Siberian Iris, Pink Peonies & Pink Tea Set

My Siberian iris & pink peonies have finally bloomed & I hurriedly picked some before the rain ruined them.
The peony plants originally came from my maternal grandmother's garden. 

My mother then divided the corms & had them planted all along our side yard. 
Before that childhood home was sold, 
my sisters dug up some of those plants for their own gardens.
When I moved back home to Ohio, my sweet sisters dug up some & shared them with me.

♥♥♥ Thanks Weezie & Fritz! ♥♥♥

I set up a little tea table vignette for four, using my BTaT (Brewed to a Tea) china.

I just love this darling set with its pale pink & white polka-dot background & beautiful roses.

The set has 2 different patterns of cups. 

I considered mixing & matching the saucers, but in the end, paired them to their corresponding teacups.

I wish the little sugar bowl lid had an opening for the

Oneida "Americana" sugar spoon to poke out of.

I used my pressed glass shamrock for a spoon rest instead.

I have sugar free mini cupcakes, sans icing ( 1 pt on ♥ WW) on a vintage "Treat Tree". 

I found it online & have used it for many, many events.

 I like to display Hershey kisses, in their proper holiday colors for each month. 

Red in Feb.,Green in March, Gold towards Autumn. 

It is fun to change it out for the occasion &

it is the little things that make a difference!

The white sandwich plates, beneath the cups & saucers

are ironstone by Johnson Brothers, made in England.

The table topper is one that I bought in Milan, Italy.

I'm so very glad we traveled when my husband was alive.

I have no desire to leave my country ever again!

My tea of choice is Lady Grey (decaffeinated).

 When I was working in the hospital (RN) 

I could drink strong caffeinated tea all day

 (or night shift) long, without effect. 

Now, if I have anything with caffeine after 4 pm,

 I toss & turn all night long! 

Even chocolate ice cream keeps me awake!

Thanks for stopping by "The Gazebo House"

I'm really enjoying playing with my dishes again &

love to share information about their origins.

fondly,

Rett

Red, White & Blue snack on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, in order to pay homage to the fallen American military, I tried to create a patriotic tray on which to enjoy my midday snack of yogurt & fruit outside in the nice warm sunshine.
I used my red & white star quilt that I made, for a tablecloth & a silver tray to carry my items out the back door to the deck.

My parfait consists of a sugar free vanilla cupcake (1 pt Weight Watchers 💚 plan) with toasted coconut Greek yogurt (2 pts. 💚 WW) layered with an assortment of red & blue berries...delish!

 

My blue & white teacup is very generic...just says "made in China" on the back. 

Same for the little individual white ironstone teapot, steeping Twinings French Vanilla Chai tea.

The little miniature red, white & blue teacup & saucer is an AVON collectable from 1984. It is from their European Collection & is titled "The Netherlands". 

A sweet little treasure given to me by my sewing friend, Eileen Simon.

 I picked some of my lily of the valley flowers & 

tucked a little American flag into the vase along with them.

They smell Heavenly!

The tiny Mason jar holds Pro Granola to sprinkle on top of the parfait. I have an affinity for darling Mason jar lids & this homespun one speaks to me.

This quilt was redesigned by Peg Bingham from a vintage one that a friend found at a garage sale.

It is one of my very most favorites...I adore RED & WHITE quilts! 

I hope you all had a peaceful & blessed holiday...I did.

Strawberries with Breakfast

I am going to try to get back to blogging since I've missed my blogging friends & "playing with my dishes" so much!

The joy of entertaining went out the window when Ernie passed away.  *sigh*
Other than a few family dinners, I have not bothered to set a pretty table for a long time.

I joined a Facebook page called "Tea Cups & Cupcakes" & have been inspired to use my
collection of tea cups in little vignettes, just for myself. 

 Perhaps a friend or two will be able to 
join me, once this awful corona virus has passed.

Breakfast this morning is a Kodiak Cinnamon Oat pancake with 2 chicken sausages.

Topped with fresh strawberries & Swerve brown sugar! 

Irish Breakfast is my tea of choice this morning.

Napoleon Bee flatware is from Horchow

My pretty tea cup today is Staffordshire from England

It was a thrift store find, as was my strawberry basket, below.

Traditionally, the little containers on the side were used for brown sugar & cream.

Thank you for visiting *The Gazebo House*.

I hope to be able to get this to post & then visit your blogs as well.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing each of you a very Blessed Christmas!
I'm sharing some photos from around my house.
First a beautiful floral arrangement from a dear friend in Alabama.



The central ornament has a family of Christmas carolers.
I'll be saving that treasure to reuse again & again.



This little pink feather angel is almost 50 years old!!!
I bought it at a school bazaar for my Mother.  
She always had it on the top of her piano, flanking the nativity set.



My daughter brought me this DARLING little tree for my kitchen this year!!



It is filled with some of the cutest kitchen utensils I have ever seen!
A copper sauce pan...



An ornament depicting a package of spaghetti...Ms. C's favorite!



A red glitter handled whisk...



A beautiful copper collander...



There are several red glittered rolling pins throughout the tree.




A precious potato masher!!



What a fun focal point it has added to my festive kitchen!



The fireplace mantel is always done in gold, with angels...gifts from my sweet husband
when we lived in FL.  There was a local store that featured a different one each year.





I pray the Spirit of Christmas will light up your life & burn brightly for you all year long!



Don't eat too many Christmas cookies!!!

Tea in the Library

The title of this post "Tea in the Library", sounds like a hint from the game of "Clue" doesn't it?

Last week, I went to my local libray... 



and I had the most delightful time,
learning about tea & taste testing several different types.

We were asked to bring our own special teacup from which to sip & sample the tea.

I brought my pretty teacup with matching infuser & lid from TEAVANA
It was one of my birthday gifts a few years ago.

I just LOVE how it makes having a single cup of tea such a special experience.

It says the Ume blossom on the cup is the beloved symbol of hope in Asian art.



There was a beautiful array of GORGEOUS Hall teapots, (highly collectable)

each with its own special clear glass warmer stand with a little candle inside.

The individual teabags had been filled by hand with various flavors of widely different teas.

There were also bowls of spices, like star anise to examine, smell & savor.
We learned how Jasmine tea made by allowing the tea leaves to lay in racks with another rack of jasmine flowers in between each layer.  There is a fan moving the air about in the room until the tea master decides that the tea leaves have gotten enough aroma infused into them.  Amazing!



This event was put on by Angela Strach-Gotthardt, creator & owner of *The Secret Tea Society*.

She is extremely knowledgable & was a delightful hostess, sharing tips on herbal & botantical teas as well as secrets to making a really good cup of tea.

She frequently holds a tea tasting "Salon" in her own lovely historic home in Hudson, OH, which once hid runaway slaves beneath its floor boards!

A description of a salon from her website:

"A Secret Tea Society salon is a special gathering for tea and conversation. We seek out and create sometimes minimal and sometimes highly embellished venues for the gathering of interesting and interested individuals to share tea and conversation about virtually any given topic. A historic home, a public venue, a private room, any beautiful space can serve as the backdrop for a morning, an afternoon or an evening of curated teas, delectable treats, and conversations that foster learning and understanding of the world and of each other. Those conversations may leave one with, perhaps, more questions than answers–and that is a wondrous thing."



I was totally in love with her wonderful collection of teapots!

I collected them myself for many years, until I ran out of room, but none of mine are as special as the ones she shared!



She & her assistants passed around little bowls, filled with loose tea, for us to smell & observe.




Some were delightful...others, not so much. ;-p  Many smelled like perfume!  Not what I thought I would care to drink.


 


There were glass pedistals filled with nuts & unusual teas...I wish I could remember the name of this one with the little white tips....perhaps it might have been "white tea"!
I wish I had thought to take notes.

These are just some of the DARLING teapots Angela brought to share.
I was PEA-GREEN with envy over her collection.




I was also tickled PINK to receive a little brown envelope, tied with a PINK ribbon, 
filled with one of her special blends...Citrus Almond Herbal...DELISH!



The library had put out a cart with a selection of books on the topic of tea.  

I wanted to check out each one!



Angela also talked about chilled tea, often infused with fruits & how refreshing it could be during the warmer months. 





Angela is holding what she calls a "pop-up" store within the historic Brewster Mansion right on the square in Hudson, OH both this weekend & next.

Secret Tea Society Holiday Pop-Up

Friday, December 2nd - Thursday, December 22nd

10am-5pm Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays | 10am-8pm Thursdays

Brewster Mansion — 9 Aurora Street, Hudson, OH 44236

Our Secret Tea Society Holiday Pop-Up

 Shop is the place to shop your tea, tea

 equipage, candles and correspondence

 paper for holiday gift giving. 

Tea tastings are gratis all day, everyday.

 Enjoy relaxing on the leopard settee or on

 the porch overlooking Hudson's town

 green to sip, chat, taste, relax and shop.

Don't you just ADORE the little wooden teapots she uses to denote her location?  

All the more noticable with their trailing ribbons blowing in the wind.  So creative!



She suggested we put a slice of orange rind (without any of the white pith) into the cup, to make your tea even more special.

My sewing/smocking/quilting friend, Nicole visited shortly after the event & we tried it & it tastes divine!  I'm going to save the peel from all my oranges & freeze the bits of rind for future use.

I wish each of you could stop by to share a cup of tea during this holiday season!



I am joining Bernideen's Tea Time Link Party
"Friends Sharing Tea" for the first time!
She has such a delightful collection of tea items!